Use Grit!

RESOURCES ON GRIT, PERSEVERANCE, AND GROWTH MINDSET

GRIT 2.0 Resources

“Drop the flashcards—grit, character, and curiosity matter even more than cognitive skills. A persuasive wake-up call.”—People
Why do some children succeed while others fail? The story we usually tell about childhood and success is the one about intelligence: success comes to those who score highest on tests, from preschool admissions to SATs. But in How Children Succeed, Paul Tough argues that the qualities that matter more have to do with character: skills like perseverance, curiosity, optimism, and self-control.

How Children Succeed introduces us to a new generation of researchers and educators, who, for the first time, are using the tools of science to peel back the mysteries of character. Through their stories—and the stories of the children they are trying to help—Tough reveals how this new knowledge can transform young people’s lives. He uncovers the surprising ways in which parents do—and do not—prepare their children for adulthood. And he provides us with new insights into how to improve the lives of children growing up in poverty. This provocative and profoundly hopeful book will not only inspire and engage readers, it will also change our understanding of childhood itself.

“Illuminates the extremes of American childhood: for rich kids, a safety net drawn so tight it’s a harness; for poor kids, almost nothing to break their fall.”—New York Times

“I learned so much reading this book and I came away full of hope about how we can make life better for all kinds of kids.”—Slate

In How Children Succeed, Paul Tough explores the question of why some children succeed while others fail. He argues that the key to a child’s success is not so much about intelligence, but character: skills like perseverance, curiosity, conscientiousness, optimism, and self-control. Tough traces the links between childhood stress and life success, and uncovers the surprising ways in which parents do and do not prepare their children for adulthood. And he provides new insights into how to help children growing up in poverty. How Children Succeed is a provocative and hopeful book that has the potential to change how we raise our children, how we run our schools, and our understanding of childhood itself.

Wisdom that’s been inspiring, motivating, and guiding teachers for two decadesThe Courage to Teach speaks to the joys and pains that teachers of every sort know well. Over the last 20 years, the book has helped countless educators reignite their passion, redirect their practice, and deal with the many pressures that accompany their vital work.

Enriched by a new Foreword from Diana Chapman Walsh, the book builds on a simple premise: good teaching can never be reduced to technique. Good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher, that core of self where intellect, emotion, and spirit converge–enabling ‘live encounters’ between teachers, students, and subjects that are the key to deep and lasting learning.

Good teachers love learners, learning, and the teaching life in a way that builds trust with students and colleagues, animates their daily practice, and keeps them coming back tomorrow.

Reclaim your own vision and purpose against the threat of burn-out

Understand why good teaching cannot be reduced to technique alone

Explore and practice the relational traits that good teachers have in common

Learn how to forge learning connections with your students and “teach across the gap”

Whether used for personal study, book club exploration, or professional development, TheCourage to Teach is rich with time-honored wisdom, and contemporary clarity about the ancient arts of teaching and learning.

Kazimierz Dąbrowski Theory

The Theory of Positive Disintegration is a novel approach to personality development. The theory is a forerunner of what today is called post-traumatic growth. Dąbrowski described the psychological factors he believed to be related to positive (growth full) outcomes after crises. He called these factors developmental potential and they include a description of psychological sensitivity he called overexcitability (OE). Dąbrowski observed that individuals with strong OE experience crises in a stronger, deeper and more personal manner. The intense experience of crises creates an opportunity for the conscious and volitional rearrangement of the self including a reformulation and reprioritization of one’s values and beliefs.

More powerful tools for students and teachers! Click photo for link to book.

A concept that is taking root in the demanding realm of professional sports,The Obstacle Isthe Way deals with failure, perspective, and having the mental toughness to carry on no matter what the circumstances. While this book doesn’t explicitly address classroom teaching, it is a helpful reminder that life challenges are meant to be faced head-on. It’s a study and reflection on the philosophy of Stoicism, along with stories of great historical figures that realized that problems were merely a chance to grow stronger. By the time you finish it, you might just feel a little stronger yourself. The Obstacle Is the Way touches on that and does whatever it can to show students that problems are opportunities to get stronger.

2. Talk About Grit

First, I give my students the grit scale test (PDF) and let them score it. Then we watch Angela Duckworth’s TED video together and talk about the decisions we make that impact grit. Empower students to educate themselves — they can’t wait for educators to figure this out.

3. Share Examples

In my ninth grade classroom, January starts with a video about John Foppe, born with no arms, who excelled as an honor student, drove his own car, and became a successful psychologist and speaker while creatively using his feet. We also talk to Westwood alum Scott Rigsby, the first double amputee to complete an Ironman competition. These are gritty people. Life is hard, and luck is an illusion.

5. Reframe Problems

Using stories and examples from Malcom Gladwell’s book David and Goliath, we talk about “desirable difficulties.” Students need perspective about problems to prevent them from giving up, quitting or losing hope.

6. Find a Framework

I use Angela Maiers’ Classroom Habitudes as my framework. The KIPP framework specifically includes grit as one of its seven traits. Find one that works for your school and includes clear performance values.

7. Live Grittily

You teach with your life. Perhaps that is why Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture and David Menasche’s Priority List resonate. These teachers used their own battle with death itself as a way to teach. But you don’t have to die to be an effective teacher. Our own work ethic yells so loudly that kids know exactly what we think about grit.

8. Foster Safe Circumstances That Encourage Grit

Never mistake engaging, fun or even interesting for easy. We don’t jump up and down when we tear off a piece of tape because “I did it.” No one celebrates easy, but everyone celebrates championships and winners because those take grit (and more). We need more circumstances to help kids to develop grit before they can “have it.”

9. Help Students Develop Intentional Habits

10. Acknowledge the Sacrifice Grit Requires

Grit takes time, and many students aren’t giving it. In their 2010 paper “The Falling Time Cost of College“, Babcock and Marks demonstrate that, in 1961, U.S. undergraduates studied 24 hours a week outside of class. In 1981, that fell to 20 hours, and in 2003, it was 14 hours per week. This is not to create a blame or generation gap discussion, but rather to point out the cost of being well educated. We are what we do, and if we study less and work less, then we will learn less.

11. Discuss When You Need Grit and When You Need to Quit

Grit is not without controversy. Alfie Kohn has some valid points in his criticism of grit. So read and discuss the opponents of grit in class.

In particular, I agree with the point that there is a time for grit and a time to quit. There are times when it’s OK to quit something that just isn’t within your range of talents, or when trying something different may enrich your life. Worthy tasks deserve persistence. But there are tasks that would be worthier in a different season of your life. There are jobs that should be left. Sometimes you have to let go of something good to grasp something great. Students need discernment to know when they need grit and when it may be a time to quit.

Educators Need Grit

Now we as teachers just need the grit to do whatever it takes to turn education around, and that starts with hard work and our own modern version of true grit. Teaching it and living it is now front and center in the education conversation.

Office of Educational Technology: Promoting Grit, Tenacity, and Perseverance—Critical Factors for Success in the 21st Century (Promoting Grit, Tenacity, and Perseverance—Critical Factors for Success in the 21st Century)

THE RESILIENCE PROJECT posits that rejection, failure, or disappointment, in the context of learning, are as valuable as the success we strive for. Many of the reflections in these videos and on the pages you’ll read will show you that success comes because of, not in spite of, failure.

Grit and Growth Mindset

In rural New Hampshire, fifth-grade teacher Amy Lyon has created a curriculum based on researcher Angela Duckworth’s ideas about grit. Students set and work toward their own long-term goals, learning valuable lessons about dealing with frustration and distractions along the way.

Edutopia blogger Andrew Miller considers ‘grit’ as a 21st century skill encompassing real-world qualities like determination, adaptability and reflection, and suggests five steps to foster this mindset in the classroom.

Gerstein provides educational resources for understanding and building grit in this companion post to her post on resilience, part of a series of posts on 21st-century skills. Her post includes tools for practice at all levels and a link to Angela Duckworth’s TED talk on grit.

Blogger Elena Aguilar shares highlights from Paul Tough’s new book, How Children Succeed. As a follow up, you may want to listen to the podcast Back to School (This American Life, 2012), also focused on the Tough book.

This outstanding set of articles/podcast explores the challenges faced by disadvantaged students entering college, many of whom struggle to get to graduation. Going beyond grit to the need for ongoing supports, Emily Hanford profiles the support model at work in YES Prep Public Schools, a charter school network Edutopia profiled in 2009: College-Bound Culture in Houston.

In this article, a useful introduction to Carol S. Dweck’s work and thinking, OneDublin.org founder and editor James Morehead interviews Dweck about her research into mindsets and the concept of “fixed mindset” versus “growth mindset.”